The Commentariat -- February 24, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Will Bunch of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "It's hard not to believe that -- with our ADD-addled ability to focus only on the latest outrage of the last hour -- we are missing the most alarming and important trend of the last decade. That would be the rise of violent, brownshirt-style, right-wing global extremism and the concurrent era of authoritarian-style rulers on every continent, whose angry rhetoric toward migrants, ethnic minorities or women inspires these terrorists.... I'm thinking about the tragic and shocking events that took place on Wednesday night ... in the German community of Hanau.... In all, nine people were slaughtered..., most of Turkish descent.... A German killer ... was fascinated by the rise of Donald Trump and what that said about white supremacy. In addition to supporting ... a wall between the U.S. and Mexico..., he also cited off-the-wall conspiracy theories..., like the internet fake-scandal called QAnon or its cousin, the invented Pizzagate affair.... It's the kind of thinking that screams out for mental health treatment but which, in 2020, might get one, in his or her 'Q' T-shirt, a front-row seat at a Trump campaign rally." --s

Anita Kumar of Politico: "... Donald Trump arrives Monday in a country featuring the most Trump properties outside the U.S. The White House hopes the visit will advance trade talks and bolster the president's standing with Indian-Americans ahead of the 2020 election. But it's also a trip that will create attention that could help Trump-branded properties amid a slumping real estate market and slowing economy in India." --s

Benjamin Fearnow of Newsweek: "Regardless of whether or not Americans are voting for...Donald Trump, almost two-thirds of nationwide registered voters say they think he'll most likely win re-election in November. About 65 percent of U.S. registered voters of all political affiliations say Trump will 'definitely' or 'probably will' defeat whoever the ultimate Democratic challenger is against him in the general election...Republicans are far more confident than Democrats, with 90 percent of GOP registered voters expecting Trump to win re-election." --s

Garrett Graff of Wired: "As Richard Grenell, the current US ambassador to Germany, starts his ... job as the nation's acting director of national intelligence, his arrival also marks the ouster of not only his predecessor, Joseph Maguire, but reportedly also of DNI principal executive Andrew Hallman. By the end of the day, almost all of the roles created after 9/11 literally to prevent the next 9/11 will be either vacant or lack permanent appointees.... There will soon be no Senate-confirmed director of the National Counterterrorism Center, director of national intelligence, principal deputy director of national intelligence, homeland security secretary, deputy homeland security secretary, nor leaders of any of the three main border security and immigration agencies.... No department is in worse shape than the Department of Homeland Security, itself a post-9/11 creation meant to bring together under one roof the key agencies that protect the nation's infrastructure, transportation, and borders." --s

Zack Whittaker of Tech Crunch: "A spyware app designed to 'monitor everything' on a victim's phone has been secretly installed on thousands of phones. The app, KidsGuard, claims it can 'access all the information' on a target device, including its real-time location, text messages, browser history, access to its photos, videos and app activities, and recordings of phone calls. But a misconfigured server meant the app was also spilling out the secretly uploaded contents of victims' devices to the internet.... Although many of these apps are marketed toward parents to monitor their child's activities, many have repurposed the apps to spy on their spouses. That's prompted privacy groups and security firms to work together to help better identify stalkerware." --s

Brian Naylor of NPR: "Historians and activists charge that the White House has failed to keep notes of the president's meetings with foreign leaders, including with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that other papers, including records of alleged abuses of undocumented immigrants, could be destroyed.... The American Immigration Council, an advocacy organization, along with three other groups last week filed Freedom of Information Act requests with ICE asking for the documents, as a way to keep them intact. Emily Creighton, [an attorney for the council..., calls it 'mind boggling' that some documents detailing detention conditions could be destroyed in 10, 20 or 30 years. 'It's almost as though we are, you know, erasing our nation's conscience,' she says.... Historians are fighting on another front with the Trump administration: over the preservation or, in some cases, the creation of presidential records. President Trump is reportedly averse to having note-takers present at his meetings with foreign leaders and is said to have torn up some notes, in violation of the Presidential Records Act." --s

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "President Trump's ongoing purge of his administration is rapidly getting worse.... The real driver here is that Trump is removing officials who committed the sin of trying to defend the rule of law from his efforts to corrupt it. This is forward-looking: It clears the way for more such corruption of the rule of law and sends a message to others about what awaits them if they stand in the way of this as it continues to devolve. Two new reports about Trump's ongoing purge underscore this with great clarity. First, Axios reports that in the view of Trump's aides, the president has 'crossed a psychological line' regarding the 'deep state.' (Axios story also linked below.) He has concluded multiple agencies are filled with 'snakes,' and he wants them rooted out.... A second report [is] a deep New York Times dive into tensions roiling the Justice Department amid Attorney General William Barr's intervention on behalf of Trump confidant Roger Stone.... Trump is raging at officials who constitute an obstacle to his own active, ongoing corruption of the rule of law. And it's working: The Justice Department actually is carrying out his corrupt bidding in many ways."

Daniel Arkin & Adam Reiss of NBC News: "Harvey Weinstein, the once-powerful Hollywood mogul, was found guilty of rape in the third degree Monday but acquitted on the two most serious criminal charges, capping a landmark trial of the #MeToo era. The jury in New York convicted Weinstein, 67, of third-degree rape of Jessica Mann, a former aspiring actress, as well as a count of criminal sexual act in the first degree against Mimi Haley, a former 'Project Runway' production assistant. But the jury found him not guilty on two counts of predatory sexual assault, which could have resulted in a life sentence. He was also acquitted on a count of first-degree rape against Mann." ~~~

     ~~~ A New York Times story, comprised of live updates, is here. "Harvey Weinstein is being sent immediately to jail to await his sentencing." Update: The Times' main story is here.

Here's the Problem. Gabriel Debenedetti of New York: "... the day after a decisive Sanders victory in Nevada, his rivals are all intent on staying in. Given the general agreement among anti-Sanders moderates that the field needs to shrink, why won't anyone drop out?" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's something I can see happening: Bernie gets about 40 percent of the delegates in the primaries & caucuses. Barack Obama & Nancy Pelosi & maybe a few other éminences grises get together & pick a consensus candidate. Then they strongarm all the other "moderate" candidates to pledge their delegates to their chosen candidate. And let's hope their choice is not Hillary Clinton.

Modi Rolls out the Red Carpet for Trump. Anita Kumar of Politico: “Standing alongside Modi, Trump on Monday inaugurated the brand-new Motera Stadium, lined with 110,000 orange, yellow and blue seats -- all filled. Trump is ostensibly in India to help mitigate a long-standing trade dispute while tightening U.S.-Indian relations, but Monday's mega-rally was also designed to appeal to Indian-American voters as Trump heads into his reelection campaign.... It was a political-style rally like no other. Even Trump's popular MAGA rallies couldn't compare to the size and scope of the 'Namaste Trump rally." Mrs. McC: The world's oldest former democracy & the world's largest former democracy keep pretending they're still democracies. Sweet. ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited the Taj Mahal on Monday, posing for photos and getting a private tour of the iconic monument to cap his first day in India." Mrs. McC: I guess Trump enjoyed seeing a Taj that didn't send one of his companies into bankruptcy and later sold for 4 cents on the dollar.

Keith Bradsher & Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Stocks on Wall Street plummeted on Monday, following sharp declines in global markets after spreading coronavirus outbreaks in Italy and in South Korea stoked concern among investors about the potential damage they might inflict on the global economy. The S&P 500 dropped nearly 3 percent at the start of trading, after European markets recorded their worst day since 2016 and major benchmarks in Asia closed sharply lower. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 900 points. The number of people infected with the virus has ballooned to more than 79,000 people in Asia, crippling China's economy. Rapidly spreading outbreaks have now been reported in Italy, Iran and South Korea." This is a liveblog of developments related to the coronavirus pandemic. A Politico story is here.

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Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Sunday made a veiled threat toward House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff, claiming without evidence that the California Democrat had leaked information from a classified briefing in which a senior U.S. intelligence official told lawmakers that Russia wants to see Trump reelected. 'Somebody please tell incompetent (thanks for my high poll numbers) & corrupt politician Adam "Shifty" Schiff to stop leaking Classified information or, even worse, made up information, to the Fake News Media,' Trump tweeted. 'Someday he will be caught, & that will be a very unpleasant experience!'" Mrs. McC: Um, how is that "veiled" exactly? Seems like a pretty straightforward threat. ~~~

~~~ David Sanger of the New York Times: "As accusations swirled Sunday about Russia's efforts to interfere with the 2020 election, President Trump's national security adviser and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. could not agree on what Moscow is, or is not, doing. Their disagreement came as intelligence officials disputed reports that emerged last week about a briefing of the House Intelligence Committee. The officials now maintain that the House members either misheard or misinterpreted a key part of the briefing, and that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not mean to say that it believes the Russians are currently intervening in the election explicitly to help President Trump. They do believe that Russia is intervening in the election, and that Moscow prefers Mr. Trump, a deal maker it knows well. But at least for now, those two objectives may not be linked. The differing interpretations only made it easier for the Trump administration and Democrats to put forward their own version of what the Russians are doing. As the national security adviser, Robert C. O'Brien, defended Mr. Trump and intimated that the Russians favored the Democratic presidential front-runner, Senator Bernie Sanders, Mr. Biden blamed the president and other Republicans for allowing Russia to continue to interfere in the election."

He's Gonna Find Out Who's Naughty or Nice. Jonathan Swan of Axios writes an uncharacteristically long story on Trump's hit list: "The Trump White House and its allies, over the past 18 months, assembled detailed lists of disloyal government officials to oust -- and trusted pro-Trump people to replace them -- according to more than a dozen sources familiar with the effort who spoke to Axios.... By the time President Trump instructed his 29-year-old former body man and new head of presidential personnel to rid his government of anti-Trump officials, he'd gathered reams of material to support his suspicions.... A well-connected network of conservative activists with close ties to Trump and top administration officials is quietly helping develop these 'Never Trump'/pro-Trump lists, and some sent memos to Trump to shape his views, per sources with direct knowledge. Members of this network include Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and Republican Senate staffer Barbara Ledeen."

Former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) in a New York Times op-ed: "With acting cabinet secretaries everywhere, the Departments of Homeland Security and State hollowed out, and the recent departure of high-profile, nonpolitical appointees on the National Security Council staff (the Vindman brothers and Victoria Coates), the judgment and experience about who wants to attack us and where is basically gone. This creates an enormous risk to our country.... Allied services also won't trust us if our own officers face constant pressure to politicize intelligence. That means reporting streams will dry up, we won't get early warning on planned attacks and we will lose critical knowledge about the decisions adversaries are making that may not have consequences today, but could have huge ones in the next decade."

Washington Post: "President Trump arrived in India for his first official visit on Monday, the beginning of a whirlwind 36-hour tour that includes a mega-rally expected to draw more than 100,000 people, a visit to the Taj Mahal, and a day of ceremonies and meetings in Delhi. Trump was greeted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom Trump recently described as 'a friend of mine.'... Trump's visit to India comes as the two countries continue to deepen their security cooperation but face stubborn tensions over trade. The Modi government has faced considerable international criticism -- including from members of Congress -- over its crackdown in Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state, and the passage of a controversial religion-based citizenship bill that has led to protests across the country. In the run-up to the trip, a senior White House official said Trump would raise the issue of religious freedom with Modi in private. Before leaving for India, Trump told reporters the trip would be 'very exciting,' and the 'biggest event' India had ever held." This is a liveblog, so you can check back to catch up on what-all else Trump says or does to embarrass us. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: "Biggest event," my ass. Apparently our Ignoramus-in-Chief did not read his briefing book where it described the huge protests against Modi way last month. ~~~

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson swiftly and scathingly told ... Roger Stone there's no legal reason he should be able to remove her from his criminal case, two days after he accused her of bias because she said jurors who found him guilty served with integrity.... 'There is no rule and no case law that would justify the recusal of a judge for bias simply because he or she says something about an issue on the docket, on the record, at some point before a reply has been filed, or before a hearing -- which may or may not be required in the Court's discretion -- has concluded. If parties could move to disqualify every judge who furrows his brow at one side or the other before ruling, the entire court system would come to a standstill,' according to Jackson. The judge also defended her impartiality, noting on Sunday that she has insured fairness for Stone throughout his case, including after he posted a threatening photo on Instagram about her as he awaited trial."

Presidential Race

The New York Times has Nevada's Democratic presidential caucus results here. Politico's caucus results are here. It appears only Bernie Sanders & Joe Biden will earn delegates from Nevada, as a candidate must receive at least 15 percent of the vote to do so, and they are likely to be the only candidates to do so.

Natasha Korecki & David Siders of Politico: "Moderate Democrats watched in horror as Bernie Sanders soared to a landslide victory in Nevada. It wasn't the win that was surprising -- it was the walloping Sanders gave his opponents, his ability to dominate among Latino voters, and the momentum he gained moving into South Carolina and Super Tuesday. The performance sent already worried Democrats into a full-blown panic."

Annie Grayer of CNN: "Former Democratic hopeful Marianne Williamson made a surprise appearance at Sen. Bernie Sanders' rally Sunday in Austin, Texas, to announce her endorsement of the Democratic front-runner.... Ahead of the Iowa caucuses in January, Williamson, who had already dropped out, had said she would campaign for Andrew Yang in Iowa, hoping to keep him in the race, but stopping short of an outright endorsement." She said Bernie has been "consistent" and "convicted," whatever that means.

Rick Klein of ABC News explains the various dynamics that increase the likelihood Sanders will walk away with the Democratic nomination.

News Ledes

NBC News: "Katherine Johnson, one of the NASA mathematicians depicted in 'Hidden Figures,' died Monday, the administrator of NASA said. She was 101." Johnson's New York Times obituary is here. ~~~

~~~ You can rent or buy "Hidden Figures" on YouTube & Amazon Prime.

CNN: "The restaurateur, model and author B. Smith died on Saturday after a battle with Alzheimer's disease, her husband Dan Gasby said in a statement. She was 70 years old."

The Commentariat -- February 23, 2020

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I don't usually carry forward videos I've linked later on the day before, but this one was so clever & well-executed I thought it was worth it. Besides, "American Pie" is one of my all-time favorite pop songs. It was popular when my son was a toddler, and I overheard him walking around singing, "Bye, bye, Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levee 'cause ... my horse was dead." Many thanks to PD Pepe for the link. ~~~

Jonathan Martin & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders claimed a major victory in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday that demonstrated his broad appeal in the first racially diverse state in the presidential primary race and established him as the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination. In a significant show of force, Mr. Sanders, a liberal from Vermont, had a lead that was more than double his nearest rivals with 50 percent of the precincts reporting, and The Associated Press named him the winner on Saturday evening." ~~~

~~~ Ryan Lizza of Politico: "On Saturday in Nevada, Bernie Sanders laid waste not just to his five main rivals but also to every shard of conventional wisdom about the Democratic presidential primaries. You could see the dominoes of punditry cliches falling inside the caucus rooms." The page includes the latest vote & delegate count. Pete Buttigieg, as of 1:40 am ET, came in a distant second in the popular vote, and Joe Biden a distant second in the delegate count. ~~~

~~~ The New York Times has Nevada's Democratic presidential caucus results here. Politico's caucus results are here. Early returns show Sanders having more support than all other candidates combined. ~~~

~~~ The New York Times has live updates of the Nevada Democratic caucuses here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. NPR's caucus liveblog is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) NBC News has declared Bernie Sanders the winner with about 4 percent of precincts reporting.

For the first time in American history, a Jewish person may become the presidential nominee of a major political party. So, as returns from a stunning state victory trickled in, ~~~

     ~~~ Joe Concha of the Hill: "MSNBC's Chris Matthews is under fire after comparing Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) decisive win in the Nevada caucuses to the Nazi invasion of France in 1940, with some on social media calling for the 'Hardball' host to resign. 'I was reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940,' Matthews said during MSNBC's live coverage of the caucuses on Saturday. 'And the general, Reynaud, calls up Churchill and says, "It's over." And Churchill says, ?How can that be? You've got the greatest army in Europe. How can it be over?" He said, "It's over."' Criticism quickly poured in on social media over Matthews using the analogy. Sanders, who is Jewish, had most of his family killed in the Holocaust." Mrs. McC: Wait for Matthews to issue an "apology" where he says he wasn't comparing Sanders to Hitler and he's sorry if anyone might have been offended. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: A couple of days ago, there was news that Sanders blew up at NBC News execs before the Nevada debate for the coverage he gets on MSNBC. Among the criticisms, the New York Post reported, according to Tommy Christopher of Mediaite, ... Sanders vented at moderator Chuck Todd over comments he'd made on the air, uncritically citing a column that compared Sanders' supporters to Nazis. 'I do not appreciate your comment about my supporters,' Sanders reportedly told Todd, calling the remark 'offensive.'"

Holly Otterbein of Politico: "Nevada is a notoriously tough place for presidential candidates to attract volunteers. But Bernie Sanders has somehow amassed an army. Thousands of the Vermont senator's volunteers and aides in the state have knocked on 500,000-plus doors, two-thirds of which took place in February, according to his campaign. Those mega-fans helped propel his strong grassroots performances in Iowa and New Hampshire -- and now appear poised to help him turn out the vote and cinch a victory in Nevada." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Clint Eastwood has backed Mike Bloomberg for president, breaking with the Republican party he has supported for decades and even served in elected office." Mrs. McC: I'm beginning to wonder if Bloomberg's diabolical plot is to turn the Democratic party Republican.

Animal Cruelty Masquerading as Satire. Anita Hassan & David Li of NBC News: "Pigeons with tiny Make American Great Again hats glued to their heads were released in downtown Las Vegas this week in what appears to be a sarcastic statement of loyalty to ... Donald Trump and a mock protest of Nevada's coming Democratic presidential caucuses. A group calling itself P.U.T.I.N., Pigeons United To Interfere Now, claimed responsibility for the stunt. The pigeons were set loose Tuesday, according to the group." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Congressional Races. Mike DeBonis & Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "As [Bernie] Sanders builds what could eventually be an insurmountable delegate lead, many Democratic House and Senate candidates are approaching a dramatic shift in their campaigns, as they recalibrate to include praise of capitalism and distance themselves from the national party. Top campaign strategists from both parties view Sanders's success as a potentially tectonic event, which could narrow the party's already slim hopes of retaking the Senate majority and fuel GOP dreams of reclaiming the House, which it lost amid a Democratic romp in 2018.... With an emphatic victory in Saturday's Nevada caucuses, Sanders has won two of the first three contests, and lost the third -- the Iowa caucuses -- in a squeaker. He also holds leads in polls in many of the Super Tuesday states that vote March 3 -- a point by which nearly 4 in 10 delegates nationally will have been chosen."

Trump's Kiss-Ass Policy Running Full Force. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Even for an administration that has been a revolving door since Day 1, this has become a season of turmoil. At a moment when first-term presidents are typically seeking a stable team to focus on their re-election, President Trump has embarked on a systematic attempt to sweep out officials perceived to be disloyal." Baker runs down a list of prominent personnel Trump has sacked. "Johnny McEntee, a 29-year-old loyalist just installed to take over the Office of Presidential Personnel and reporting directly to Mr. Trump, has ordered a freeze on all political appointments across the government. He also convened a meeting to instruct departments to search for people not devoted to the president so they can be removed, according to people briefed about the session, and informed colleagues that he planned to tell cabinet secretaries that the White House would be choosing their deputies from now on." According to Baker, "career professionals" are to be purged, too. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That would seem to include civil servants. I don't see how Trump can get away with that, as the Civil Service Reform Act should protect at least some of them from adverse reassignments, demotions, suspensions or dismissals.

Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "Trump's tendency to shoot the messenger puts the people working for him in a precarious position..... There is talk [among intelligence officials] of 'trying to hide' stuff, one of the former officials said, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions. 'Some people believe the president can't be trusted with this politically sensitive information anymore. There's a sense that he's installing his guy [(Ric) Grenell] and they're going to come in and try to look for stuff, and they're not trustworthy.'... The decision to move another Trump loyalist, Kash Patel, into a senior advisory position at the intelligence director's office further cemented that impression. Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and most recently the top counterterrorism official on the National Security Council, has infuriated CIA and FBI personnel over his efforts to prove a conspiracy in the intelligence community to bring down the president by investigating his campaign's possible ties to Russia in 2016."

This Is Astonishing. Elizabeth Thomas & Ashley Brown of ABC News: "White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien is denying new U.S. intelligence reports that Russian actors are interfering to help ... Donald Trump win a second term, but he admitted he has not looked at or sought out materials surrounding those reports. 'I haven't seen any intelligence that Russia is doing anything to attempt to get President Trump reelected,' O'Brien told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Saturday, saying it amounted to 'a non-story.'... The interview came on the heels of recent reports that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told lawmakers that Russia is meddling in the 2020 race, with a preference for the Trump campaign. O'Brien characterized the reporting on the classified briefing as 'leaks.'" Mrs. McC: AND if you wonder how this astounding claim is possible, read Crowley & Sanger, linked next. ~~~

~~~ Michael Crowley & David Sanger of the New York Times: "When President Trump's national security adviser, Robert C. O'Brien, convenes meetings with top National Security Council officials at the White House, he sometimes opens by distributing printouts of Mr. Trump's latest tweets on the subject at hand. The gesture amounts to an implicit challenge for those present. Their job is to find ways of justifying, enacting or explaining Mr. Trump's policy, not to advise the president on what it should be. That is the reverse of what the National Security Council was created to do at the Cold War's dawn -- to inform and advise the president on national security decisions. But under Mr. O'Brien, the White House's hostage negotiator when Mr. Trump chose him to succeed John R. Bolton in September, that dynamic has often been turned on its head.... In the fourth year of his presidency and in his fourth national security adviser, Mr. Trump has finally gotten what he wants -- a loyalist who enables his ideas instead of challenging them." Mrs. McC: We're paying these goombahs not to do their jobs but to stroke Trump & push his Fox-generated "ideas." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Maureen Dowd: "This was another bad, crazy week trapped in Trump's psychopathology. No sooner was the president acquitted than he put scare quotes around the words justice and Justice Department and sought to rewrite the narrative of the Mueller report, whose author warned that Russia was going to try to meddle in the U.S. election again.... Trump, who moved from a Fifth Avenue penthouse to the White House, is sinking deeper into his poor-little-me complex, convinced that he is being persecuted.... Now, in a frightening new twist, the president is angry at his own intelligence team for trying to protect the national interest. He would rather hide actual intelligence from Congress than have Adam Schiff know something that Trump thinks would make him look bad politically."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "... Roger Stone, sentenced to 40 months in prison this week for impeding the congressional investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, moved Friday to disqualify the judge in his case, claiming her remarks at his sentencing rendered her unable to fairly rule on his bid for a new trial. Stone's lawyers say, in particular, that Judge Amy Berman Jackson's decision to assert that jurors in the case 'served with integrity' strikes at the heart of Stone's motion for a new trial, which they indicated is largely based on whether at least one juror was inappropriately biased against him.... Stone's latest motion appears to be a last-ditch, longshot bid to forestall his imminent prison sentence. But it will also likely reach the receptive ears of the president, who has repeatedly amplified criticism of Jackson and repeated false claims about the nature of the charges against Stone." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mrs. McCrabbie: I am impressed at the lengths to which wingers will go to criticize Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Dean Balsamini of the New York Post: "The lefty darling set tongues wagging when she donned a luxe designer dress for her Wednesday appearance on 'The View.'" After seeing the Post's story, AOC tweeted, "Yep! I rent, borrow, and thrift my clothes. (It's also environmentally sustainable!)"

Mark Stern of Slate: "On Friday evening, by a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration's wealth test for immigrants to take effect in Illinois. All four liberal justices dissented from the order, which changes relatively little.... What's most remarkable about the decision is Justice Sonia Sotomayor's withering dissent, which calls out -- with startling candor -- a distressing pattern: The court's Republican appointees have a clear bias toward the Trump administration.... Put simply: When some of the most despised and powerless among us ask the Supreme Court to spare their lives, the conservative justices turn a cold shoulder. When the Trump administration demands permission to implement some cruel, nativist, and potentially unlawful immigration restrictions, the conservatives bend over backward to give it everything it wants. There is nothing 'fair and balanced' about the court's double standard that favors the government over everyone else. And, as Sotomayor implies, this flagrant bias creates the disturbing impression that the Trump administration has a majority of the court in its pocket." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Commentariat -- February 22, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times has live updates of the Nevada Democratic caucuses here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. NPR's caucus liveblog is here.

Holly Otterbein of Politico: "Nevada is a notoriously tough place for presidential candidates to attract volunteers. But Bernie Sanders has somehow amassed an army. Thousands of the Vermont senator's volunteers and aides in the state have knocked on 500,000-plus doors, two-thirds of which took place in February, according to his campaign. Those mega-fans helped propel his strong grassroots performances in Iowa and New Hampshire -- and now appear poised to help him turn out the vote and cinch a victory in Nevada."

Animal Cruelty Masquerading as Satire. Anita Hassan & David Li of NBC News: "Pigeons with tiny Make American Great Again hats glued to their heads were released in downtown Las Vegas this week in what appears to be a sarcastic statement of loyalty to ... Donald Trump and a mock protest of Nevada's coming Democratic presidential caucuses. A group calling itself P.U.T.I.N., Pigeons United To Interfere Now, claimed responsibility for the stunt. The pigeons were set loose Tuesday, according to the group."

Michael Crowley & David Sanger of the New York Times: "When President Trump's national security adviser, Robert C. O'Brien, convenes meetings with top National Security Council officials at the White House, he sometimes opens by distributing printouts of Mr. Trump's latest tweets on the subject at hand. The gesture amounts to an implicit challenge for those present. Their job is to find ways of justifying, enacting or explaining Mr. Trump's policy, not to advise the president on what it should be. That is the reverse of what the National Security Council was created to do at the Cold War's dawn -- to inform and advise the president on national security decisions. But under Mr. O'Brien, the White House's hostage negotiator when Mr. Trump chose him to succeed John R. Bolton in September, that dynamic has often been turned on its head.... In the fourth year of his presidency and in his fourth national security adviser, Mr. Trump has finally gotten what he wants -- a loyalist who enables his ideas instead of challenging them." Mrs. McC: We're paying these people ... to stroke Trump & promote his Fox-generated "ideas."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "... Roger Stone, sentenced to 40 months in prison this week..., moved Friday to disqualify the judge in his case, claiming her remarks at his sentencing rendered her unable to fairly rule on his bid for a new trial. Stone's lawyers say, in particular, that Judge Amy Berman Jackson's decision to assert that jurors in the case 'served with integrity' strikes at the heart of Stone's motion for a new trial, which they indicated is largely based on whether at least one juror was inappropriately biased against him.... Stone's latest motion appears to be a last-ditch, longshot bid to forestall his imminent prison sentence. But it will also likely reach the receptive ears of the president, who has repeatedly amplified criticism of Jackson and repeated false claims about the nature of the charges against Stone."

Mark Stern of Slate: "On Friday evening, by a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration's wealth test for immigrants to take effect in Illinois. All four liberal justices dissented from the order, which changes relatively little.... What's most remarkable about the decision is Justice Sonia Sotomayor's withering dissent, which calls out -- with startling candor -- a distressing pattern: The court's Republican appointees have a clear bias toward the Trump administration.... When some of the most despised and powerless among us ask the Supreme Court to spare their lives, the conservative justices turn a cold shoulder. When the Trump administration demands permission to implement some cruel, nativist, and potentially unlawful immigration restrictions, the conservatives bend over backward to give it everything it wants. There is nothing 'fair and balanced' about the court's double standard that favors the government over everyone else. And, as Sotomayor implies, this flagrant bias creates the disturbing impression that the Trump administration has a majority of the court in its pocket."

Anderson Cooper Had a Blago Sandwich Last Night:

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     ~~~ Really terrific! Thanks to PD Pepe for the link.

NBC News: The Nevada caucuses are today. "Check-in begins at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. The actual call to caucus is at 3 p.m ET/12 p.m. PT.... The state [Democratic] party participated in early voting for the first time this year and turnout was robust; the state party said that almost 75,000 people voted early." ~~~

~~~ Alex Seitz-Wald & Garrett Haake of NBC News: "Nevada Democrats have hired a professional call center with 200 paid operators and dedicated reporting lines to help take in results from caucus sites around the state, diverging from Iowa where lightly trained volunteers manned the phones and reported chaos and jammed phoned lines after an app that was supposed to process most of the results malfunctioned. 'We have been working around the clock to ensure that what happened in Iowa will not happen here, which is why we're taking no chances when it comes to reporting,' Molly Forgey, spokesperson for the Nevada Democratic Party, told NBC News."

Zack Montellaro of Politico: "The Iowa state Democratic Party announced Friday it accepted a limited recount request from the two top candidates in this month's caucuses: Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders. An unsigned statement from the state party said it will recount 10 precincts requested by the Sanders campaign and 14 by the Buttigieg campaign, for a total of 23 unique precincts. The party accepted the entirety of Sanders' recount request, according to data it released earlier this week. However, the party did not accept the entirety of Buttigieg's campaign request. His campaign requested a recount in 54 precincts, but just 14 were accepted, according to a list released by the state party."

The Guardian has a liveblog of Friday's campaign events. (Also linked yesterday.)

Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post (Updated): "U.S. officials have told Sen. Bernie Sanders that Russia is attempting to help his presidential campaign as part of an effort to interfere with the Democratic contest, according to people familiar with the matter. President Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also been informed about the Russian assistance to the Vermont senator, according to people familiar with the matter.... 'I don't care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president,' Sanders said in a statement to The Washington Post. 'My message to Putin is clear: Stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do. In 2016, Russia used Internet propaganda to sow division in our country, and my understanding is that they are doing it again in 2020. Some of the ugly stuff on the Internet attributed to our campaign may well not be coming from real supporters.'... At a Democratic candidates debate Wednesday in Las Vegas, Sanders indirectly blamed Russia, saying it was possible that malign actors were trying to manipulate social media to inflame divisions among Democrats.... After Sanders's remarks..., some social media analysts were skeptical of the notion that Russians already were masquerading as the candidate's supporters.... Sanders told reporters Friday after The Post's report was published that he received the briefing 'about a month ago.'" (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times has a story here. NBC News has a related story here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It seems Bernie had no trouble condemning Russia at the first opportunity. So why can't Donald do the same after years & years of pleas from reporters? Instead, Trump blames Democrats for spreading a "hoax," then fires the top White House intelligence officials who actually provided the information to Congress, and -- as it turns out -- to the Sanders campaign. Trump isn't just a flagrant liar; he's a 'fraidy-cat wuss who can't own up to the free help he's getting from foreign subversives. ~~~

~~~ Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), appearing on CNN, suggests that Trump may be "working as an agent of Russia," feeding Russia information on what Democratic candidate he prefers; i.e., Sanders. Mrs. McC: One might, for instance, see this as a signal to Russia: Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "... at a Nevada campaign rally Friday..., Trump ... suggested that Moscow would prefer to see Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ... in the White House, noting that he 'honeymooned' in the Soviet Union." ~~~

~~~ Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Trump said Friday that a disclosure by American intelligence officials that Russia was again meddling in a presidential election in his favor was merely another partisan campaign against him, dismissing the warning as a hoax cooked up by rivals. 'Another misinformation campaign is being launched by Democrats in Congress saying that Russia prefers me to any of the Do Nothing Democrat candidates who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa,' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Hoax number 7!'... Mr. Trump has a long history of discarding assessments made by intelligence agencies that he has deemed unfair or unflattering.... Mr. Trump, with the assistance of his Justice Department, has moved to retaliate against the intelligence community rather than Mr. Putin...." The Hill has a report here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Trump and his GOP defenders appear to be actively abetting an attack on our country. By contrast, Democrats can be accused only of passivity -- a serious abdication, but not remotely comparable to what Trump and his defenders are orchestrating.... Trump is angry because our intelligence officials followed the law and informed members of both parties about what the intel indicated about new Russian efforts.... So now the media scrutiny must fall heavily on what the administration is doing to mitigate the threat that its own intelligence has identified. Is Trump facilitating or hindering those efforts?... There is no longer any excuse for failing to ramp up the oversight immediately."

~~~ Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "Richard Grenell's tenure as the nation's top intelligence official may be short-lived, but he wasted no time this week starting to shape his team of advisers, ousting his office's No. 2 official -- a longtime intelligence officer -- and bringing in an expert on Trump conspiracy theories to help lead the agency, according to officials. Mr. Grenell has also requested the intelligence behind the classified briefing last week before the House Intelligence Committee where officials told lawmakers that Russia was interfering in November's presidential election and that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia favored President Trump's re-election.... Joseph Maguire, the former acting director of national intelligence, and his deputy, Andrew P. Hallman, resigned on Friday. Mr. Grenell told Mr. Hallman, popular in the office's Liberty Crossing headquarters, that his service was no longer needed, according to two officials. Mr. Hallman ... has worked in the office or at the C.I.A. for three decades.... One of [Grenell's] first hires was Kashyap Patel, a senior National Security Council staff member and former key aide to Representative Devin Nunes.... Mr. Patel will have a mandate to 'clean house,' CBS News reported...." ~~~

     ~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf of ProPublica: "... Donald Trump's new acting intelligence director, Richard Grenell, used to do consulting work on behalf of an Eastern European oligarch who is now a fugitive and was recently barred from entering the U.S. under anti-corruption sanctions imposed last month by the State Department. In 2016, Grenell wrote several articles defending the oligarch, a Moldovan politician named Vladimir Plahotniuc, but did not disclose that he was being paid, according to records and interviews. Grenell also did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which generally requires people to disclose work in the U.S. on behalf of foreign politicians. FARA is the same law that Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates were convicted of violating. (Manafort went to trial. Gates pleaded guilty.)"

~~~ Ha Ha. According to Nicolle Wallace of MSNBC, Trump considered Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) to be Director of National Intelligence, but dropped him when a 2016 video resurfaced featuring Stewart calling Trump "Our Mussolini." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Stephen Collison of CNN: "America is blundering into a new Russia election-meddling hall of mirrors that's already doing Moscow's work: tearing fresh political divides and threatening to again tarnish democracy's most sacred moment, a national election.... Trump was informed that the House Intelligence Committee was told of the Russian intelligence operation last week by Rep. Devin Nunes..., a source told CNN.... Partisan uproar over the new claims, meanwhile, suggests that the alleged operation is again delivering for Russia on its intended goals: sowing distrust in the US system and turning Americans against themselves in a way that weakens national unity." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times: "Just as the 2020 U.S. Census count is about to begin, the Republican National Committee is sending people across the country a letter it confusingly labeled as a '2020 Congressional District Census.' Like the census, the piece of mail includes a survey. But unlike the official decennial questionnaire the federal government will soon send out to millions of Americans, this one is asking for donations to the GOP and a loyalty pledge to ... Donald Trump. And it's 'Commissioned by the Republican Party,' according to the form, not the U.S. Department of Commerce. A Democratic Party spokesman called the GOP mailers 'reprehensible' and 'intentionally deceptive,' according to the Los Angeles Times, which reported on the letters Friday after they arrived in California mailboxes. The mailer also appeared in Florida this month and the Tampa Bay Times recently obtained one sent to a Tallahassee voter.... An envelope claims the mail is an 'official document,' according to the Los Angeles Times. 'Do not destroy,' it says, while telling recipients, 'Your participation is urgently needed.'"

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "Mike Bloomberg said Friday his company would release from nondisclosure agreements three women who complained about inappropriate comments they said he made, two days after he was pressed to do so by Elizabeth Warren during the Democratic debate. 'Bloomberg LP has identified 3 NDAs signed over the past 30+ years with women to address complaints about comments they said I had made. If any of them want to be released from their NDAs, they should contact the company and they'll be given a release'" Bloomberg tweeted Friday." (Also linked yesterday.)

Biden Appears to Make up a Dramatic Story. Katie Glueck & Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "In at least three campaign appearances over the past two weeks, Joseph R. Biden Jr. has told a similar story as he tries to revive his campaign in states with more diverse voters. On a trip to South Africa years ago, he has said, he [& the U.N. ambassador were] arrested as [they] sought to visit Nelson Mandela in prison.... But if Mr. Biden, then a United States senator from Delaware, was in fact arrested while trying to visit Mr. Mandela, he did not mention it in his 2007 memoir when writing about a 1970s trip to South Africa, and he has not spoken of it prominently on the 2020 campaign trail. A check of available news accounts by The New York Times turned up no references to an arrest.... Andrew Young .., who was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 1977 to 1979, said that he had traveled with Mr. Biden over the years, including to South Africa. But Mr. Young said that he had never been arrested in South Africa and expressed skepticism that members of Congress would have faced arrest there. 'No, I was never arrested and I don't think he was, either,' Mr. Young, now 87, said in a telephone interview." Mrs. McC: If you read the whole article, you'll see how Biden embellishes the story as he repeats it. Pretty soon he'll have himself chained to Mandella, like Tony Curtis & Sidney Poitier in "The Defiant Ones."

San Diego Union-Tribune Editors endorse Pete Buttigieg in the Democratic presidential primary.

San Francisco Chronicle Editors endorse Amy Klobuchar in the Democratic primary.

Seattle Times Editors endorse Amy Klobuchar.

Jeremy Diamond, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's new personnel chief told agency officials at a meeting on Thursday to expect staffing changes and movements across the government, people familiar with the meeting told CNN. A White House official said John McEntee, the President's former body man who was elevated to run the presidential personnel office, made it clear his office will be on the lookout for staffers across the bureaucracy who are seen as disloyal to Trump. Another official said McEntee indicated he plans to first focus his efforts on personnel at the State Department and Department of Defense. He also told the liaisons that promotions and significant staff changes should not occur without prior approval from the presidential personnel office." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: McEntee, who is 29 years old & had an illustrious career ordering burgers & fries for President Big MacDonald before John Kelly had him frog-marched out of the White House because of security issues related to possible financial crimes, is now moving career officials around, nixing their promotions & whatever based upon his judgment of their "loyalty" to Trump. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan & Alayna Treene of Axios: "Trump has empowered McEntee -- whom he considers an absolute loyalist -- to purge the 'bad people' and 'Deep State.'" According to Swan & Treene, McEntee will stifle only political appointees. (Also linked yesterday.)

Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has directly weighed in on the White House review of a forthcoming book by his former national security adviser, telling his staff that he views John Bolton as 'a traitor,' that everything he uttered to the departed aide about national security is classified and that he will seek to block the book's publication, according to two people familiar with the conversations. The president's private arguments stand in contrast to the point-by-point process used to classify and protect sensitive secrets and appears to differ from the White House's public posture toward Bolton's much-anticipated memoir. The National Security Council warned Bolton last month that his draft 'appears to contain significant amounts of classified information,' some of it top secret, but pledged to help him revise the manuscript and 'move forward as expeditiously as possible.'... But the president has insisted to aides that Bolton's account of his work in Trump's White House ... should not see the light of day before the November election, according to the two people.... Trump told national television anchors on Feb. 4 during an off-the-record lunch that material in the book was 'highly classified'according to notes from one participant in the luncheon. He then called him a 'traitor.' 'We're going to try and block the publication of the book,' Trump said, according to the notes. 'After I leave office, he can do this. But not in the White House.'"

Jeff Stein & Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "President Trump promised in an all-caps tweet Friday to provide additional bailout funding to American farmers if necessary, as questions arise over whether China's purchases of agricultural products will fall short of what it pledged in the recently signed trade deal. Trump said he may expand the nearly $30 billion bailout program until the administration's recently struck trade deals with China, Canada, and Mexico 'kick in.' On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief economist, Robert Johansson, projected that agricultural exports to China would reach roughly $14 billion in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, far short of what White House officials said would take place.... Trump also said in the tweet that the federal bailout funding will be 'PAID FOR OUT OF THE MASSIVE TARIFF MONEY COMING INTO THE USA!' But critics have noted tariffs are paid by U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices."(Also linked yesterday.)

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Friday night removed the remaining obstacle to the Trump administration's plan to implement new 'wealth test' rules making it easier to deny immigrants residency or admission to the United States if they might depend on public-assistance programs. Although legal challenges will continue on the merits of the policy in lower courts, the justices voted 5 to 4 to remove the last remaining judicial order blocking the new standards from going into effect while those battles play out. Critics say the rules, which the administration plans to begin enforcing Monday, replace decades of understanding and would place a burden on poor immigrants from non-English-speaking countries."

Moooo! Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge has tossed out a racketeering lawsuit House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes filed last year against the private investigation firm at the heart of the Trump-Russia saga. Alexandria, Virginia-based U.S. District Court Judge Liam O'Grady's two-page order made short work of Nunes' suit, which sought $9.9 million in damages from Fusion GPS, its founder Glenn Simpson and a nonprofit watchdog group, Campaign for Accountability. The judge also signaled that pressing on with the legal battle could result in sanctions against Nunes and his attorney, Steven Biss."

Hound Bites Border Patrol. Gene Johnson of the AP: "Greyhound, the nation's largest bus company, said Friday it will stop allowing Border Patrol agents without a warrant to board its buses to conduct routine immigration checks. The company's announcement came one week after The Associated Press reported on a leaked Border Patrol memo confirming that agents can't board private buses without the consent of the bus company. Greyhound had previously insisted that even though it didn't like the immigration checks, it had no choice under federal law but to allow them. In an emailed statement, the company said it would notify the Department of Homeland Security that it does not consent to unwarranted searches on its buses or in areas of terminals that are not open to the public -- such as company offices or any areas a person needs a ticket to access. Greyhound said it would provide its drivers and bus station employees updated training regarding the new policy, and that it would place stickers on all its buses clearly stating that it does not consent to the searches.... Border Patrol arrests videotaped by other passengers have sparked criticism, and Greyhound faces a lawsuit in California alleging that it violated consumer protection laws by facilitating raids."

Eric Levenson, et al., of CNN: "Jurors in Harvey Weinstein's trial asked the judge Friday if they can be hung on some counts but unanimous on others....In response to Friday's note, the judge charged the jury to go back and continue deliberations.... Deliberations ended for the day at 3 p.m., and jurors are expected to return to court to continue deliberations Monday morning." The two charges the jurors appear to be hung on relate to predatory sexual assault. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida/Turkmenistan. Eric Lavai & Scot Stedman of Forensic News: "Florida's official Republican Party Facebook page, along with nine other Florida Republican county Facebook pages, have a page manager located in Turkmenistan, a country in Central Asia with no public affiliation to Florida Republicans or political social media consultants. All ten of the Facebook page managers from Turkmenistan disappeared after Forensic News contacted the Florida GOP page owner for comment.... Because Facebook does not require page managers to reveal their names, there is no way to know who is managing the pages from Turkmenistan. There was, however, a page owner, the person who runs the entire Florida GOP Facebook page, listed as longtime GOP social media strategist Jordan Gibson.... Turkmenistan's government maintains total control over their Internet. All major social media sites, including Facebook, are banned." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

U.K. Royal No More. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will give up the name 'royal' as they withdraw from official duties as members of the British royal family and embark on new lives in the private sector, the couple confirmed on Friday. Harry and Meghan, who are also known as the duke and duchess of Sussex, had planned to use the name SussexRoyal as an umbrella brand for their new charitable foundation and social media accounts. But after protracted and difficult negotiations with Buckingham Palace, the couple has agreed not to use 'royal' in any of their philanthropic or commercial activities after this spring. They will withdraw trademark applications using the name and remove it from their Instagram account and website."

News Lede

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here.